Shaka Soprano Offers Music People Can Vibe To

“Nowadays people are just trying to survive and I like to give them a soundtrack to the survival.”

Check out the interview with Shaka Soprano exclusively on Skilly Magazine Online.­­­­

Skilly: Tell us where this all began. What is your history in the music scene?
Shaka Soprano: I started writing poems when I was 8 years old. When I got a little older I started rhyming at lunch tables and started putting them to beats. People started noticing that I was good at it. I moved around a lot and kind of set my mark everywhere I went.

What are the best ways to promote yourself as an artist? Any tips you can give us?To get out there and push the pencil, make sure you have a nice following as well as a nice team behind you that supports you. Those two are major keys, everything else after that is on how hard you grind.

What do you ultimately want to become in your career?I want to be timeless. I want to be the artist that you look up to when you first get your phone. The first song you listen to when you get a new phone. I want to be that person because guaranteed that person is timeless. I want to be able to listen to everything I say now and have it still be relevant 20 years from now.

What is the hardest thing about being in the music business?The trust. It’s hard to realize who’s actually helping you and who’s really just out to use you.

What is it like in your city? What is the music scene like, and how is it like living there overall?In Birmingham, Alabama the scene is like most southern places. In Anchorage, Alaska it’s kind of the same, but there’s more of a west coast feel to it. There’s a saying I always say, “You can struggle anywhere.” I have struggled, from sleeping on couches to sleeping on floors in the studio in both my cities. Also, in both my cities that crime rate is ridiculous. Nowadays people are just trying to survive and I like to give them a soundtrack to the survival.

What are some of advice you can give and share to other artists who are still trying to come up?Work and when you’re tired, work some more. Always try to perfect your craft and put in the effort you want to receive. And have fun.

What is the best thing that’s ever happened in your career?I wouldn’t say this is the best thing because the best is yet to come, but something happened that warmed my heart happened in 2012. I was in Alaska and I got a call from my grandma (rest her soul) and she said someone walked up to her and asked how I was doing. They’d seen my video and at the time my grandma didn’t even see the video. This somebody showed my grandma my video and all she can say is that my grandson.

What is your inspiration?My family, trying to be the better me, helping everybody survive. The fact that people look up to me. I want to be the best and not the best rapper, the best musician, the best poet, the best storyteller. These are the things that inspire me.

Do you feel anyone can be successful now in today’s world of music?If you have money behind you, simple as that. Nowadays money talks more than talent. If you take money out the equation, what is everybody really talking about? Most people don’t really even talk about their life. They talk about throwing money in the strip club. I wasn’t in the strip club with them so I can’t relate to that.